20110527

Super typhoon churns through Pacific, threatens Okinawa

CNN

Super Typhoon Songda ripped across the western Pacific on Thursday, dropping heavy rain on the Philippines and threatening Okinawa and the Japanese main islands with rain and damaging winds into the weekend. Songda was a Category 5 storm late Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 161 mph and gusts of 195 mph, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The storm was producing wave heights of 38 feet in the Pacific, forecasters said. The forecast track for Songda put it over Okinawa on Saturday night as a Category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 109 mph and gusts up 132 mph. The Japan Meteorological Agency said Songda would lose strength but still be a strong storm as it approaches the country's main islands Sunday. (CNN)

Platinum surplus seen jumping eightfold after quake

Japan Times

The global platinum surplus may jump eightfold after Japan's worst earthquake slashed car production, reducing the country's demand to the lowest level in 28 years, said the nation's top refiner. Supply will probably outpace demand by as much as 5 metric tons this year, compared with a surplus of 600 kg last year, Shinya Kitaoka, trading section chief at Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., said in an interview. The world palladium shortage may be cut by half, he said. (Japan Times)